Military service and the risk of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: A meta-analysis

Tai, Hongfei; Shen, Dongchao; Li, Dawei; Cui, Bo; Jia, Fang

doi:10.1016/j.jocn.2017.08.035

Cited by 20 publications

(25 citation statements)

References 25 publications

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“…Military service has been associated with increased disease risk in some studies [39][40][41][42][43], though not in all [44][45][46][47]. Despite factors underlying a possible excess of ALS among workers in armed forces remain unidentified, several factors have been suggested including strenuous physical exertion, poor sleep, trauma, psychological stress, and exposure to chemicals including heavy metals or pesticides [39,48,49].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Environmental and Occupational Risk Factors of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis: A Population-Based Case-Control Study

Filippini

Tesauro

Fiore

et al. 2020

IJERPH

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Objectives: Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a progressive and fatal neurodegenerative disease with still unknown etiology. We aimed at investigating the association between environmental and occupational factors with ALS risk. Methods: We performed a population-based case-control study in four Italian provinces (Catania, Modena, Novara, and Reggio Emilia) by administration of tailored questionnaires to ALS cases (n = 95) and randomly selected population referents (n = 135). We estimated ALS risk by calculating the odds ratio (OR) with its 95% confidence interval (CI) using an unconditional logistic regression model. Results: We found a positive association with disease risk for history of occupation in the agricultural sector (OR = 2.09, 95% CI 0.79–7.54), especially for longer than 10 years (OR = 2.72, 95% 1.02–7.20). Overall occupational exposure to solvents also suggested a positive association, especially for thinners (OR = 2.27, 95% CI 1.14–4.54) and paint removers (OR = 2.01, 95% CI 0.90–4.48). Both occupational and environmental exposure to electromagnetic fields show a slightly increased risk with OR = 1.69 (95% CI 0.70–4.09) and 2.41 (95% CI 1.13–5.12), respectively. Occupational but not environmental exposure to pesticides (OR = 1.22, 95% CI 0.63–2.37), particularly fungicides, and exposure to metals (OR = 4.20, 95% CI 1.88–9.38), particularly lead, mercury, and selenium, showed an imprecise but positive association. Finally, there was an indication of increased risk for living in proximity to water bodies. Conclusions: Despite the caution that needs to be used due to some study limitations, such as the low number of exposed subjects and the possibility of recall bias, these results suggest the potential role of some environmental and occupational factors in ALS etiology.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Environmental and Occupational Risk Factors of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis: A Population-Based Case-Control Study

Filippini

Tesauro

Fiore

et al. 2020

IJERPH

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“…[11][12][13] While the meta-analysis suggested an increased risk, the three subsequent studies reported no relationship between military service and ALS risk. [11][12][13] The meta-analysis by Tai et al 7 summarized evidence between 1981 and 2016 regarding the risk of ALS associated with general military service. The analysis included 6 case-control and 3 cohort studies, with moderate heterogeneity between studies (I 2 = 55%).…”

Section: General Military Servicementioning

confidence: 99%

“…The quality of the review itself was high, based on the AMSTAR criteria; however, there were noted limitations to the included studies, such as small sample sizes, biased control selection, and potentially imprecise case selection. 7 A case-control study in New England, USA compared newly-diagnosed ALS patients to controls seen for other neurological conditions in two neurology clinics. 11 Between 2009 and 2015, 295 cases of ALS and 224 controls were enrolled.…”

Section: General Military Servicementioning

confidence: 99%

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Military service and related risk factors for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

et al. 2020

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Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a progressive, degenerative neurological disease. 1 It is the most common form of motor neuron disease (MND), but still considered rare, with a global incidence of approximately 2/100,000 persons. 2 ALS onset typically occurs in later life, peaking between 50 and 75 years of age, affecting persons of both sexes and all ethnicities. 1 The consequences of ALS can be devastating for those affected and their families. Disease progression is rapid, with only half of patients living longer than three years following diagnosis. 3

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“…The mechanism for this has not yet been discovered. 20 Others, like liver disease, including cirrhosis, hepatitis C, and hepatocellular carcinoma, and head and neck cancers not resulting from human papilloma virus, occur more frequently in Veterans than in non-Veterans. 21 Given that some illnesses are more common in Veteran populations, there are many benefits available to Veterans in addition to medical care.…”

Section: Tip 5: the Experience Of Each Veteran Is Uniquementioning

confidence: 99%

Top Ten Tips Palliative Care Providers Should Know About Caring for Veterans

Way

Ersek

Montagnini

et al. 2019

Journal of Palliative Medicine

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Many of America's Veterans have unique medical and psychosocial needs related to their military service. Since most medical care received by Veterans occurs outside of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) health care system, it is imperative that all medical providers have a working understanding of the unique needs of Veterans and some of the many programs and services available to Veterans through the VA. This article, created by an interdisciplinary team of palliative care and hospice providers who care for Veterans throughout the country, seeks to improve the comfort with which non-VA clinicians care for Veterans while increasing knowledge about programs for which Veterans might qualify through the VA.

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Military service and the risk of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: A meta-analysis

Cited by 20 publications

References 25 publications

Environmental and Occupational Risk Factors of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis: A Population-Based Case-Control Study

Environmental and Occupational Risk Factors of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis: A Population-Based Case-Control Study

Military service and related risk factors for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

Top Ten Tips Palliative Care Providers Should Know About Caring for Veterans

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